1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a developer replenishment container accommodating apparatus, a developer replenishment container, and an image forming apparatus, and in particular, to a configuration for suppressing a vibration when replenishing a developer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copy machine and a printer, a fine powder developer (toner) is used as a developer. When the developer of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus main body is consumed, the developer is replenished to the image forming apparatus main body by using a developer replenishment container (toner replenishment container). Because the developer is a considerably fine powder, when replenishing the developer, the developer replenishment container is kept in the image forming apparatus main body so that the developer is not scattered, and the developer is discharged through a small opening little by little (such a system is known as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-345112).
FIG. 27 is a perspective view of a developer replenishment container accommodating apparatus 400 provided in the image forming apparatus main body. The developer replenishment container accommodating apparatus (hereinafter referred to as an “accommodating apparatus”) 400 includes a driving portion 22 that is coupled to a toner bottle as a developer replenishment container and drives the replenishment container to rotate. The driving portion 22 includes an open/close control member 21 that is driven to rotate by a driving motor portion 22a including a driving motor (not shown).
FIGS. 28A, 28B, 29A, 29B, 30A, and 30B are diagrams illustrating states of the accommodating apparatus 400 and a toner bottle 1 when the toner bottle 1 is put (accommodated) in the accommodating apparatus 400. FIG. 28A is a diagram illustrating a state in which an operation of putting the toner bottle 1 in the accommodating apparatus 400 is started. In this state, i.e., when the toner bottle 1 is in a position illustrated in FIG. 28A, the toner bottle 1 is not secured to the accommodating apparatus 400, and therefore, a user can mount the toner bottle 1 and remove the toner bottle 1 from the accommodating apparatus 400.
A cylindrical discharging portion 1e for discharging a developer (not shown) is provided on one tip end surface of the toner bottle 1, and an opening 1a of the discharging portion 1e is sealed by a sealing member 2. A release protrusion 4 that is elastically bent is provided on a proximal portion of the sealing member 2, and an engaging protrusion 3 that is elastically bent integrally with the release protrusion 4 is provided on a distal side of the sealing member 2.
FIG. 28B is a diagram illustrating a state in which the toner bottle 1 starts to be put in the accommodating apparatus 400 by a user pushing the toner bottle 1 in a direction indicated by the arrow “a”. At this time, the sealing member 2 is inserted into the open/close control member 21 up to the release protrusion 4 provided on the proximal portion. At this time, the release protrusion 4 is pressed in an inner side direction by an inner circumferential surface of the open/close control member 21 and elastically bent in a direction indicated by the arrow “d”, and at the same time, the engaging protrusion 3 is also bent toward the inner side. Therefore, the engaging protrusion 3 and the open/close control member 21 are in a state in which they are not engaged with each other. Further, when the sealing member is moved to this position, a positioning member 30 provided on the accommodating apparatus 400 side is engaged with a locking groove 1d formed in a side surface of a main body of the toner bottle 1, and hence a container main body 1c of the toner bottle 1 is locked to the accommodating apparatus 400.
When an operation of closing a replacement cover (not shown) is then started, along with a movement of the replacement cover, as illustrated in FIG. 29A, the open/close control member 21 is retracted in the direction indicated by the arrow “a”. With this operation, the release protrusion 4 of the sealing member 2 is recovered from a pressed state, and accordingly the engaging protrusion 3 is elastically locked (stopped) into a locking hole (not shown) provided in the open/close control member 21. Further after that, when the replacement cover is closed, the open/close control member 21 is further retracted in the direction indicated by the arrow “a” keeping in a state of being engaged with the sealing member 2. With this operation, as illustrated in FIG. 29B, the sealing member 2 is separated from the toner bottle 1 so that the opening 1a is opened and the developer can be replenished.
When the driving motor portion 22a is driven in this state, the open/close control member 21 rotates, and the sealing member 2 engaged with the open/close control member 21 is rotated with the rotation of the open/close control member 21. The rotation of the sealing member 2 is transferred to a rotation driving portion 1b so that the container main body 1c is rotated. That is, the sealing member 2 has a function of sealing the opening 1a, a function of receiving a rotational driving force from the accommodating apparatus 400, and a function of transferring the rotational driving force to the toner bottle 1.
By the rotation of the toner bottle 1 via the sealing member 2 in the above-mentioned manner, the developer contained in the toner bottle 1 is sequentially discharged through the opening 1a and received in a hopper 24 that is a temporary developer accommodating container. The hopper 24 includes an agitating member 25 and a screw member 26, and the developer discharged from the toner bottle 1 is dropped to the hopper 24 by gravity and agitated by the agitating member 25.
The agitating member 25 is rotated in a direction indicated by the arrow “c” by a driving mechanism (not shown) so that the developer is moved to the screw member 26 by gravity. The screw member 26 is configured to convey the developer by a driving mechanism (not shown) in an axial direction, i.e., from the back to the front in a direction orthogonal to the cross-sectional view of FIG. 29B. Thus, when the screw member 26 is rotated, the developer is conveyed through a developer discharge port (not shown) of the hopper 24 to a developing device so that replenishment of the developer is performed.
When the replenishment of the developer is completed, the replacement cover is opened. When the replacement cover is opened, the open/close control member 21 moves from the position illustrated in FIG. 29B in a direction indicated by the arrow “b” illustrated in FIG. 29A. At this time, because the toner bottle 1 is locked to the accommodating apparatus 400 by the positioning member 30 with a predetermined biasing force, when the open/close control member 21 moves in this manner, the sealing member 2 is pushed into to seal the opening 1a of the toner bottle 1. At the same time, the release protrusion 4 is pressed toward the inner side by the inner circumferential surface of the open/close control member 21 and elastically deformed and bent in the direction indicated by the arrow “d”. Accordingly, the engaging protrusion 3 is displaced toward the inner side so that the engagement of the engaging protrusion 3 and the open/close control member 21 is released, resulting in a state illustrated in FIG. 28B.
As a result, in this state, the toner bottle 1 can be pulled out of the accommodating apparatus 400, and the toner bottle 1 can be pulled out when the user pulls the toner bottle 1 with a force stronger than a maintaining force of a biasing member 31 described later, which is illustrated in FIG. 30A, for biasing the positioning member 30. That is, the putting of the toner bottle 1 in a replenishable position, the release of the toner bottle 1, and the removal of the bottle can be performed by a reciprocating operation of the toner bottle 1 and the open/close control member 21 in the directions indicated by the arrows “a” and “b” that are the rotational axis direction of the toner bottle and a combination thereof.
By the way, the positioning member 30 is protruded in a retractable manner to an insertion portion 400a into which an end portion of the toner bottle 1 is inserted, as illustrated in FIG. 30A. As illustrated in FIG. 30B, the positioning member 30 includes a first tapered portion 30a that is inclined downward along a push-in direction and a second tapered portion 30b that is located on a downstream side of the first tapered portion 30a in the push-in direction and inclined upward along the push-in direction. Further, the positioning member 30 is biased in a direction of protruding into the insertion portion 400a by the biasing member 31 illustrated in FIG. 30A.
When putting the toner bottle 1 in the accommodating apparatus 400, a locking piece 1g that is vertically formed on the discharging portion 1e as illustrated in FIG. 28A and forms a side wall surface of the locking groove 1d on the downstream side in the push-in direction first abuts on the first tapered portion 30a of the positioning member 30. After that, when the toner bottle 1 is further pushed in, the locking piece 1g passes the positioning member 30 along the first tapered portion 30a while causing the positioning member 30 to be retracted from the insertion portion 400a against the biasing force of the biasing member 31. When the locking piece 1g passes the first tapered portion 30a and moves along the second tapered portion 30b, the positioning member 30 is fitted into the locking groove 1d by the biasing force of the biasing member 31.
In this manner, when putting the toner bottle 1 in the accommodating apparatus 400, the positioning member 30 is pressed by the locking piece 1g so as to be retracted from the insertion portion 400a, and then when the locking piece 1g has passed the positioning member 30, the positioning member 30 is protruded to the insertion portion 400a to be fitted into the locking groove 1d, as illustrated in FIG. 28B. With this configuration, when the user pushes the toner bottle 1 into the accommodating apparatus 400, a tension applied by the biasing member 31 is exerted on the user.
However, in the case of using the conventional accommodating apparatus and the toner bottle having the above-mentioned configuration, when fixing the position of the toner bottle 1 with respect to the accommodating apparatus 400, looseness may occur between the locking groove 1d and the positioning member 30. If such looseness occurs, when the toner bottle 1 is rotated to replenish the developer, the toner bottle 1 is rotated while causing a vibration due to the looseness.
When the toner bottle 1 is vibrated in this manner, the vibration may be transferred to an image forming portion, possibly generating an uneven image.